James Curleigh

Brainstormer, Business leader, Change agent, Connector, Entrepreneur, Environmentalist, Idea generator, Musician

James Curleigh is the President, C.E.O. & C.R.O . . . that’s Chief Recess Officer . . . for KEEN Footwear, based in Portland, Oregon. KEEN was born this century and is known for it’s original hybrid footwear, bags, and socks. KEEN encourages everyone to create, play, and care. They call this living the Hybridlife! Under Curleigh’s leadership, KEEN has continued to succeed in product innovation, brand building, global expansion, and team development. KEEN has recently built a factory in Portland that earned Curleigh a visit to the White House with President Obama and KEEN also launched their ‘Recess is Back’ platform that provided Curleigh an opportunity to join President Clinton on a panel at his most recent Clinton Foundation Conference. In the past 12 months, KEEN was named one of the ‘Best Companies to Work for’ by Outside magazine, they were named ‘One of Oregon’s most Admired Companies, by the Portland Business Journal, and Curleigh was even named one of Portland’s ‘Top 50 Influencers’ by Portland Monthly Magazine. James is a triple citizen of the USA, Canada, and the UK. Prior to KEEN he was the President & CEO of Salomon North America and has engaged with brands including Arc’teryx, adidas, Bonfire Snowboarding, and Taylor Made Golf. He is currently the Trustee Chairman of the Waterkeeper Alliance. Curleigh believes in living the Hybridlife and can be seen with his wife Jackie and their 3 young children skiing on Mt. Hood, Surfing on the Oregon Coast, or riding their bikes on the waterfront in Portland.

My life journey-to-date . . . my family . . . my work . . . my music . . . my global travels . . . my environmental advocacy . . . my sports . . . my hybridlife . . . my future friendships!

Encouraging everyone to live the HYBRIDLIFE! At KEEN, we created the Original Hybrid Footwear which led us to establishing our philosophy of encouraging everyone to create, play, and to care. . . it's our way of life . . . we call it HYBRIDLIFE!

Business & Brand (re) evolution, Culture & Leadership, Entreprenuer, Innovation, Key Note Speaker, Sporting goods

My TED story is about to be converted from 'latent' potential to kinetic 'energy' when I attend the upcoming 2012 TED Conference! I was introduced to the TED movement by my Dad - who serves as my personal TED 'curator' for all things TED related. I had the unique opportunity to speak at the TEDx Tokyo in 2011 and spoke about the notion of 'Born this Century'. The more I get to know 'TED" the more excited & engaged I have become . . . I look forward to taking the next TED steps in 2012 . . . and beyond!

FInding a way to spend time with my parents in Nova Scotia . . . cooking late at night . . . confusing people by having an identical twin brother . . . playing live music . . . taking recess!